Method of completely machineironing shirts



Aug. 3, 1943. c. P. DOWNER. ET AL METHOD OF COMPLETELY MACHINE-IRONING SHIRTS 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed June 5, 1940 INVENTORS CHARLES P. DOWNER H RRY e. COOPER BY ATTORNEY Aug. 3, 1943 C. P. DQWNER ET AL METHOD OF COMPLETELY MACHINE-momma SHIRTS 3 Sheets-Sheet Filed June 5 1940 INVENTORS CHARLES P. DOWNER HARRY G. OOOPE R Aug. 3, 1943. c. P. DQWNER' srrAL METHOD OF COMPLETELY MACHINE-IRONING SHIRTS Filed June 5, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. |o

INVENTORS CHARLES P. DOWNER By HARRY G COOPER r ATTORNEY dampen the shirt as the ironing of the same progresses, and the resultant hand ironed shirt is of a non-uniform finish throughout for this and later stated reasons. the well known hand ironing operation it is In other words, with simply impossible to produce a shirt that is ironed having a complete uniform finish throughout, because the human element is involved. and the pressures applied differently at different portions of the shirt, etc. results in a non-uniform finish It ispractically which is very unsatisfactory. impossible to hand iron a shirt and toapply the same pressures to'all portions of the shirt so ironed and then, too,'a goodly portion oftheshirt. will :beironed twice so to speak,-r'esulting'in a;

high gloss finish which is objectionable; and this 'jfinish will be entirely difierent, from a finish applied by a single handironing operation. It

* out of this method.

seems hardly necessary to state that it is pracf tically impossible to. avoid ironing certain portions' twiceiwhenithe' hand method jfofironing islused.

The primary to provide aimethod whereby a shirtor similar 7 article of apparel is cOmpletelymachine ironed,

afterhaving been properly dampened.

object of the present invention- Another object cfgthe present method is to render. unnecessary, due, to the rapidity of, execution of the several step'sthereoi} 'anyIredamp-.

eningor hand ironingifinish or touch-up of the shirt.

, ,Another object of the method'is the completely 7 machine ironing of a shirt sothat the shirt is, "of a uniform finish throughoutitsjentirety.

Another object, of the present. method is .to overlap iron all portions of a shirt so that when the shirt. is completelymachine ironedflin accordance with the'pres'ent method the result will be that itis of 'a uniform finish throughout'its entirety.

Anotherlobject offthe invention is to accoin plishv ,by' this {methodithe overlap ironing of all portions of the shirt'without, redampening the shirtduring'.theoironing method so that the resultant completely machine-ironed shirt'isjof auniform finish throughout,

Another object, of the invention method is to machine iron. pre-selected portions of the shirt on particularly designe'd'pre-selected ironing forms to accomplish overlap ironing, the

' latter conforming in contour to the pare-selected portion of the'shirt applied thereto, and repeating the removal of. the shirtjfrom one machine to another to be partiallyfironed thereon, untill the shirt is'completely machine-iron finished "on thefentire outer surface thereof.

Another object of the'invention oi'the present methodfis to provi'de in the, method ofironing the stepsof pro-selecting all portions of the shirt, and overlap iron certain edge'portions of these portions on the diiierent particularly designed Dre-selected ironing'forrn's conforming in con -v tour to' the pre-selected portionof the shirta'p-' plied thereto so that there'sultant completely machine-ironed shirt will'obe' of ,a .Lmiform-finish throughout its entire outersurface. Other objects willappear hereinafter as the I description of themethodproceeds and develops.

In order to more fullyunderstand-the. invention as embodied in the presentmethod, the

drawings hereinafter referred todepict certain typical examples of machinesthat may be used inf carrying outthis method} The drawings are also enlightening as to folliowing of the steps of the method.

time. present 7 in accordance with kn'own methods, and

; tions of -the shirt;

' inasmuch as the Figure 2 i a top plan diagrammatic View of several ,ofthemachines used in carrying out the present method. V.

Figure '3 is. a view of a typical shirt opened so as tordisclose clearly the collar, sleeves, cuffs,

bosom, shoulder andback portion of the shirt.

Figure dis a front elevational view of a typical shirt. i

a Figure 5 is arear view of atypical shirtf Figure Bdiscloses a sleeve of the shirt has been drawn over pressing bucl-z.

Figure 7 denotes the shirt withith'e cuil and v collariporti'ons thereof on their respective 'iron- ,7

llcks. I. I

Figure 8 denotcsthe shirt with alprsclected portion 7 thereof placed one shoulder ironing Figure 9: d enotes a shirt a pre-selected portion thereof placed on a bosom ironing buck.

Figure 1 0 denotes a shirtwitha pro-selected portion thereofplacedion a back ironing -buck.

Figures 11 and l2gdenote lthe steps .of overlap ironing of certain portions ofthe shirt. Figure 13 shows a portion of a shirt which has beenjmachinejironed and redampened and hand ironed or tpuch'ed'up by an experienced operator Figures l4-and l5 indicate the result of present; method jof 'overlap the ironing certain por- I 7 several ironing" machines shown in'the drawings are concerned, these ma- 1 chines'are, more or'less diagrammaticallyshown and only the vital portionsthereof,jnamely, the

. ironing surfaces; or bucks, are shown, except in Figure 1, where as illustrative of the "remaining machines' a more or less complete, machine is shown. It is, understood that the particular structuralcharacteristics of one or more of the machines. is, ormay be, embodiedin separate "patent'applications. "Abrief description of the machines is, believed sufficientto enable one familiar with this art to fully comprehend the present method of completely machine-ironing shirts or like articles on the said machines.

y Figure L is illustrative of the type of machine that may bejemployed, but'of course, as aforesaid,

any type of machine'may be'used so long as it frame 4.

embodies the necessary structural characteristics to permit carrying out of the method herein described. InFigure l the machine consists of a' base '4 on whichis mounted a table 5 and on which table the 'ironingsurface or buck 5, is mounted on a bracket or support 1, the latter of which; is suitably secured to the said table 5 and Atthe'rear ofthe machine there are upstanding spaced brackets 8 having pivotally associated] with the frame at 8j a pressing element or head 9, the pivotal association being affected by means of'thepintle [0L 7 The head 9 is suitably polished or otherwise treated on its under-ironing surface so that it will impart a smooth, firm finish, orjas sometimes referred to as the luster or sheen, to theshirt. The buck 6,

which. is usually yieldable or padded, and the.

head 9 are heated in some'manner, and as shown,

of the shirt and the portion thereof extending from the arm pit 30'- to' the tail 30 and overlapportion indicated at {I when laterto uched up by ironing of the portion 30' previously ironedon the bosom press 'border'ingon the 'side'seams 339 and also overlap-ironing the shoulder yoke seams 26 previouslyironedon'the yoke and shoulder press 2| and the seams Maironedon'the sleeve press l2 and ironingup toand overlapping the yoke portion 30 already ironedw on the yoke and V shoulder-press 2|. is accomplished, as will be clearly seen by examining Figure 10." The cut out corners 29 of the buck 29 allow; the already I 7 Q ironed shirt sleeves to drape downwardly (see Figure 10) without causing the sleeves to become wrinkled. To accomplish the-ironing onthe machine 28 it may" bejnecessary} of course, for an operator to shiftthe shirt on thebuck, perhaps twice only. r W

The. resultant completely' machine' ircned'shirt when removed from, the l last ironing machine namely, the aforesaidbacliing ironing machine,

is one that is of a uniform finish throughout. It 7 I isfito be clearlyunderStOod that whenthe'shirt is removed from the: last ironing machine there is nothing further to be done'in the way of ishing such asheretofore has been necessaryin the redampening and retouching up with iron by anexperiencedoperator. r

A clearer understanding of the overlap ironing method step will be had by referring to Figures 11 to l5,finclusive, .of the drawings; In Figures 11 and .12 therefis shown a pressing buck or that a' pcrtion ofthe articlefi whi'ch in this instance is a shirt, thereon indicated at-A has been partially"machineironed. An enlarged sectional viewof the texture of this partially ironed ara hand and touched up with a hand iionjthe resultant ironedshirt is one having'variedblends of finish and-not a complete uniform finish through'outas accomplished by the present method. In re touching the redampened portion of a shirtas is-nowdone'in commerciallaundries, the starch is necessarily dispersed and that hand-ironed finished portion which has been previously dampened resultsclearly inafinish'that isdise pressing surface 3|; In Figure 11 it will be seenticle is shown in Fig. 14 wherein the machine- 1 'ironedportio-n is indicated at B andthe rough dry 'portion at C. and thefunirone'd dampened portion ataD. When the overlap ironing step is complete, such as shown on the buck in Figure 12, and 'in the portion of the article A as shown in Figure. 15, it: will be seenthat' there is no line of' demarkation between the originallyironed portion B and the rough-dry and' damp 7 portions C and D, respectively that have been subsequently completely overlap machines-ironed; as'indicated' by the area E which has been ov'er lap-ironed throughout the corresponding area indicated at'F, see'Figure 14. In: other words,

inviewing the portion of the article A in Figures .11; 12, 14 and 15, and particularly in Figure 15,

it will be seen'that this article which has been completely overlap machinerironed, according to the present method-results in a uniform finish throughout its entirety .without dis'closingthe tinct'and readily discernible from theremainder ofthe machine ironed finishof the shirt. This objection is absolutely overcome in practicing the present method of completely machine ironing'a' shirt. 7 r

" With present available ma'chi'nes for ironing shirts; it is impossible. to completely machine iron a shirt so that no further redampening and hand iron finishing is necessary. It is therefore to be borne in mind that the present method of complet'ely machine-ironing shirts is not one that was merel'ysevolved by the machine-ironing of certain portions of'a shirt on now available shirt ironing machine; On the contrary, considerable ingenuity'hasibeen devised both as regards therperfe'ction oi the method and also the provisionjof shirti-roning machines having structuralcharacteristics as to the-particular ironing formswhereby the complete machine-ironing method could becarried out. Ironing machines that are now available prevented overlap ironingof certain portions of a shirt as described in connection with thepresent method and in such availableim'achinesthe ironing was of what might be called. as hereinbeforefreferred, the

abutting type; namely, that the portion of the shirt'that had been ironed on one inachinewas then placedon another machine and the iron ing 'on'the second machine merely abuttedthe line of demarkationbetween theironed and unironedp'ortionsas perfor'med'by the first machine so that'the finished-partially 'machine-ironed portion E that has been overlap-ironed and 7 thereby resulting in the said. uniform finish throughout. a By contrast and upon enamining I Figure 13 of the drawings, it will be seen that the articleG which has been partially machineironed'at 'H' and H but not overlap ironed; resulting in the abutting rough-dry area -I and later sponged or redampened at said. are'a'I by" an experienced operator, and'then hand 'ironed by said operator, results in the clearline of derequires a sponging or'redampenin'g of the por-i tion I, due to the fact'th'at'in present methods and-machine ironing apparatus, it" is impossible to accomplish the overlap-ironing step and this shirt necessarily required redampening'of the rough-drwportionsjin the abutting ironing of those now employed and'this' redampened portion'when hand-ironed by an experienced operator-always resulted' in 'an'uneven blend of finish of theshirtthroughout several portions thereof.

In carrying out the presentmethod it is desirable that a'pre-selected' portion of the shirt which has been previously dampened be applied to a pre-selected pressing or ironing surface of a shirt ironing machine and that the said pressure or ironingsurface be such that it will accommodate and conform to the shape of the portion of a shirt that is placed thereon to be ironed.

'In each of th iromp machines the ironing machine is extended past the main portionto be ironed so that'in the; subsequent ironing operations the portions adjacent these extended portions-tobe ironed will be overlap-ironed so that allofthese'portion's of the shirt that are repeatedly'overlap-ironed will eventuallyresult inthe completely overlap-machine-ironed shirt that will be of a uniform finish throughout and show no signs of the overlap ironing portions and requiring no further edampening or hand finishing of certain portions of the shirt, as has been necessary heretofore.

What is claimed is: n

1, The method of completely machine-ironing shirts including successive ironing operationsrin any order of the cufis, collar and neckband, yoke and shoulders, and sleeves, back and front of the shirt, so that each successive ironing operation overlaps only adjacent previously ironed portions of the shirt, and each of said ironing operations involving a single application of pressure over a comparatively large area of the shirt.

2. The method of completely machine-ironing shirts including the steps if ironing a single thickness of each sleeve up to the cufi and including adjacent portions of the shoulder, back,

and bosom, also adjacent portions of the shoulder seams and the arm-hole seams, ironing the neckband, collar, and'cufis while simultaneously overlap ironing adjacent portions only of the sleeves and an adjacent portion of the shirt about the collar, ironing the shoulder and yoke portions while simultaneously overlap ironing adjacent portions only about theneckband and the bosom at the shoulders previously ironed during the collar ironing operation and the sleeve ironing operation respectively, ironing the shirt bosom while'simultaneously overlap ironing ad-.

jacent portions only of the bosom adjacent'the f collar and the shoulder seams that were previ-- ously ironed during the yoke and shoulder iron-V r ring operation and adjacent portions'around the front edge of the neckband previously ironed during the collar and cuff ironing operation, then ironing the back of the shirt and simultaneously overlap ironing adjacent portions previously ironed during the bosom ironing operation and simultaneously overlap ironing the shoulder yoke seams previously ironed during the yoke and shoulder ironing operation and the seams ironed during the sleeve ironing operation and also shirts including the steps of ironing a single thickness portion of each sleeve up to the cuffand then presenting an unironed single thick ness portionthereof and ironing the same and including ironing of adjacent portions of the shoulder, back, and bosom, also adjacent portions of the shoulder seams and the arm-hole seams,

3 ironing the neckband, collar, and cuffs while simultaneously overlap ironing adjacent portions only of the sleeves and an adjacent portion of :the shirtabout the collar, ironing the shoulder and yoke portions while simultaneously overlap ironing adjacent portions only about the neckband and the bosom at the shoulders previously ironed during the collar ironing operation and the sleeve ironing operationrespectively, ironing the shirt bosom while simultaneously overlap ironing adjacent portions only. of the bosom adjacent the collar and the'shoulder seams that were previously ironed during the yoke and shoulder ironing operation and adjacent portions around the front edge of the neckband previously ironed during the collar-and cuif'ironing operation, then ironing the back of the shirt and simultaneously overlap ironing" adjacent portions yoke and shoulder ironing operation and the previously ironed during-- the bosom i ironing operation and simultaneously overlap ironing the shoulder yoke seams previously ironed during the seams ironed during the sleeve ironing operation and alsosimultaneous1y overlap ironing the yoke portionspreviously ironed duringthe yoke and shoulder ironing operation," and wherein each of said ironing operationsinvolves a single applica- 7 tion of pressure over a comparatively-large area of theshirt. p n l V CHARLIE-'3 P. DOWNERL HARRY G. COOPER; in 

